Full Transcript for Babe Laufenberg breaks down Cowboys vs 49ers matchup

a really, really good team. Harvey Martin, Randy White, Too Tall Jones, Drew Pearson, Tony Dorsett, you know, great players, great players. Roger Staubach. Actually, it's probably Danny White at that point. But yes, 49ers Cowboys. And and of course, that's where that's where it all began. And then to see the Cowboys climb to the top of the mountain again in the early 90s, and the Niners had a big hand in that, handing them Charles Haley, watching them beat the Niners in 92. 92 was the most bitter. I've talked to Steve Young about this as well. It's like, that was a bitter one, because that was the one that the Niners should have got. It was a brilliant game plan by Jimmy Johnson. He played ball control against the 49ers and dominated the time of possession in that game, and the Niners were the better team. But the Cowboys were an upstart, and they played the better game that day. And they squeaked out a win against the 49ers, and it was bitter. It was bitter. I look at that game as almost kind of the last true clash of titans. Now, they, of course, hooked up in 93 and 94, but that 92-niner team and that 92-cowboy team, I don't know that there's been better teams in the NFL since. I mean, I know the Patriots... have been great. We saw the Chiefs be great. We've seen some dynasties, but I don't know that there's ever been better football played than the 1992 NFC Championship game between the Cowboys and the 49ers. To me, that was the Niners at their full throttle as a franchise. That was the Cowboys in their first go-round with Jimmy Johnson, and that was an epic battle. I mean, just an epic battle. And unfortunately, Dallas got that win. And then they piled on the next year at Texas Stadium. And that's what led to the conversation between Eddie D and Carmen Policy. We cannot let this happen again. And then 1994, here came Gary Plummer and Ken Norton and Ricky Jackson and Richard Dent and most notably, Deion Sanders. And I shouldn't say that alone. How about Hall of Famer Bryant Young? How about William Barnum Floyd? The kicker, Doug Bryan, out of Cal. You know, Lee Woodall in the sixth round. 49ers had a great draft that year, and it propelled them. And they won the 1994 Super Bowl, and it was tough. The 94 Super Bowl was a cakewalk. The 94 NFC Championship game was the real Super Bowl, the de facto Super Bowl. And it took everything that the Niners had that day, even with the Cowboys, You know, even with the Niners kind of riding high, Dallas gave him a battle, and that was a battle. And that was Steve Young at his absolute best, absolute best. Everybody was covered. Steve had to run for a few first downs, and he did it. Bootlegs, naked bootlegs against Charles Haley. Epic memories, Niners-Cowboys. And here we are, 2026, years later, and we're getting another, I think, momentous game. 00:06:30 Speaker 3: Why? 00:06:30 Speaker 2: Because the Niners are rolling. And they look like they're the best team in football. And the Cowboys are desperate. And they're 4-5. And this spread probably should be Niners minus 10. But it's not. It's Niners minus 3.5. And today was another illustration of why that might be the case. Trent Williams did not practice today. He had a shoulder injury that he hurt Thursday in practice. Now, if Sunday were the Super Bowl at SoFi, he's playing. I'll tell you that right now. But I think the 49ers are looking at the fact that they've got Vitarian Lowe sitting right there. I didn't interview with him the other day, and I said, hey, you know, I know you've got to play both spots if you're the swing tackle. You've got to play the right side. You've got to play the left side. Where are you more comfortable? And he said, I'm more comfortable on the left side. I've got a lot more experience on the left side. So here we are this week, and it looks like Vitarian Lowe will go on the left side of that Niner offensive line. The Niners have had unbelievable, unbelievable consistency and continuity from their offensive line, and it's been absolutely one of the keys to why they are 7-1 and why they're playing such great football. Colton McKivitts is having a Pro Bowl year, folks. He's having a tremendous year. You know, really, really humble dude, but he's having a monster year. And Trent Williams is having one of his best years in a long time. I'm not saying this injury's not legit. I think it's legit. But I wouldn't put it past the 49ers to rest Trent a little bit here. It's a long run. It's a long run. This Cowboy team, I think you can beat the Cowboys with Darian Lowe. Trent's got the toughest game of his year coming up next week in Mexico City. 00:08:10 Speaker 3: Why? 00:08:10 Speaker 2: Because Van Ginkle and Turner, Dallas Turner, are just playing serious ball for the Vikings. And those guys are absolutely on their game. And they're tough to deal with. They're speedy and fast. I'm not saying that Trent's not hurt. I'm just saying maybe giving him a week off before the Vikings game in Mexico City isn't the worst thing. Also today, Debo Samuel, he is going to play. He's going to play with the hamstring. He's back. He's out there. He's going to go. Keenan Allen's going to play. He's going to play a role in this game. How much? I guess we'll find out Sunday. But I do think that Keenan Allen is the rare guy receiver that can step right in without knowing the offense. and contribute right away. For him, the challenge is going to be the verbiage. You know, he's going to have to do a little calculation every time he hears the play call. Okay, wait a second. He just said this, this, that, this, that, and that translates to me to be this, that, this, that. All right, got it. Let's go. I mean, he's going to have to do that. You know, football's a language, and he spent this week trying to learn the Niner language. Now, Keenan's a veteran, and he's smart. He went to Cal. He's had a lengthy NFL career. He can play all three spots at wide receiver. So, you know, if anybody can make the

transition, it's him. But that's why everybody says, oh, get a receiver, get a receiver. And I'm one of those people, you know, get a receiver. But there is a transition. Like, you know, Manuel Sanders transitioned from Denver to the Niners easier because he had a coach there in Denver who had been with the 49ers. And Lynch kind of referenced that earlier this week with Murph and Marcus. And that that means a lot. I mean, we're talking about different language, different verbiage. There's some big mental game. Everybody thinks of the NFL. These guys are big and bad and fast and tough. But you know what? It's also it's a mental game and you got to be smart. And the really the difference between the best players and the just pretty good players are the smarter players and this is gonna be interesting no Mike Evans he's out he's week to week I'd like to see Mike Evans sit for a long time sit him out as long as you can why not the big question and why this spread I think is three and a half is Renardo Green and He's got a back injury. Didn't practice or a bit did practice today, but today was a walkthrough. Didn't practice yesterday. Didn't practice Wednesday. Dimo Lenore has got a foot. Didn't practice yesterday. Didn't practice Wednesday. They're both going to be questionable. Listen, it's questionable and probably you're going to be game time decisions. If you're one of these people that likes to wager on these games, don't until you know if those guys are going to go because the 49ers are three cornerback football team. It's green. It's demo and it's stout. And you know, they had some good corners in, in, in camp, but they lost looter at the cut down. They lost Jacob Robinson a couple of weeks after that. They don't really have, you're talking about price sock. He's raw. He's a rookie. He loses, you know, steps and transition. He's doesn't have long speed. He's going to be very challenged. If he's got to play a lot, then you got Nate Hobbs. He's he's not even a hundred percent physically. And you got Ashton Davis. Who's not even really a corner. You also have Jack Jones. Who's on the practice squad. And last time we saw him, He was getting torched. So, you know, I'm a little nervous about the corner situation. If you tell me the Niners are going to show up with Renardo Green, Dimo Lenore, Upton Stout, and, you know, Nate Hobbs, I feel good. But if you're telling me it's the Jack Jones, you know, Ephesians, Prysock, Nate Hobbs show all day against CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, then I would say stay away and save your money. Protect your chicken. You know, protect your mentals, whatever it is, but just don't bet the Niners if that's the case. Also questionable, Dre Greenlaw, who was looking amazing. I thought Greenlaw the last week against the Raiders looked awesome. He was everywhere. He's got a knee injury. Questionable. Upton Stout has worn the blue jersey, the non-contact blue jersey, in practice for about maybe about three, four weeks now. And I'm sure that thing's getting better. He's going to play because he's just a tough, tough kid. I mean, Upton Stout, just tough, just really tough. And he's going to gut it out because that's what he does. But he's not 100%. C.J. West with the knee, not 100%. Nate Hobbs, not 100%. So we shall see. Now, the Niners do bring tremendous momentum on offense. The Niner offense, how about this for the stat of the day? 49er offense hasn't gone three and out once in the last three weeks. Best mark in the NFL by a wide margin. The second-place team has gone three and out on 10% of their drives. The third-place team has gone three and out on 16% of their drives. The 49ers, 0%. No three and outs the last three weeks. That's pretty good. That's about Brock Purdy. That's about Kyle Shanahan. That's about the runners. That's pretty good. That's a level of efficiency that's pretty good. Doesn't mean it's not the end all be all, but it does show that they're hard to kind of, they're hard to stop on offense. Big question for the Cowboys, George Pickens, from what I'm hearing, he is going to play. He's got a hamstring. He says he's going to go. So that is the big angle on that one. Pickens and, and, and CD lamb against the Niner corners. And if it's their top flight corners, bring them on. And if it's their backup corners, you know, just grip and hold on and, you know, do whatever you can to get a win in Dallas and then on to Colorado Springs for a few practices and then Mexico City. All right. We're going to have a Babel Offenburg. Babel Offenburg, believe it or not, was drafted by the San Francisco Giants at one point as a baseball player, was going to go play for did play at Stanford and then transferred once John Elway showed up. It's been the color annals on the Cowboy broadcast yesterday. for a number of years, and he's really, really terrific, and he's going to join us next on Niners Nightly Cowboy Week on the Sports Leader. 00:14:18 Speaker 1: Now, back to Niners Nightly with your host, Larry Krueger, on KNBRVB Sports Leader. 00:14:25 Speaker 2: All right, welcome back to Niners Nightly, and joining us to talk a little Niners Cowboys is former NFL quarterback, now a part of the broadcast team for the Cowboys and has been for years. Babe Laufenberg is with us on the Yuma guest line. Babe, how are you? 00:14:43 Speaker 3: I'm doing well. Thank you, Larry. Good to talk to you. 00:14:46 Speaker 2: Well, you know, you're, I knew you're, you know, knew all about you as a player, you know, saw you play in the NFL. You know, you played in the world league. I worked for the Sacramento gold miners. You played in the world league of the American football, the, the WLAF Ohio glory, but I didn't realize you were, you're a California guy. You're from Encino. You went to Crespi and you were drafted once. People don't know this, but we're the Giants flagship station. You were once drafted as a baseball player by the San Francisco Giants. Tell us that story. 00:15:24

Speaker 3: Yeah, it was. So I paid back in the day when you could do these things. And you didn't have to concentrate on one sport starting in the fourth grade. I played football, basketball, and baseball. And so I was drafted by San Francisco. The interesting thing is this gentleman passed away, and I didn't realize what a famous scout he was because he was actually in my living room. I had to sign. I didn't sign a contract, but you had to sign something saying that you've met with the team. George Genovese. 00:15:57 Speaker 2: Yeah, who signed Jack Clark in baseball. Yeah, great baseball scout. Chili Davis, Jack Carr. 00:16:03 Speaker 3: Yep, yep. He was like one. And I didn't, you know, I'm 17, of course, and I didn't know anything about anything. But I still don't, by the way. I'm 66, and I still don't know anything about anything. But when he passed, there was a big article in the L.A. Times. And I did grow up in Los Angeles. My brother sent me the article. He still lives in Manhattan Beach. Yeah. Anyway, he sent me the article about Georgia. He said, wasn't this a scout that came into the living room and signed you or whatnot? And I said, oh, man, and listed all the guys that he had signed. Of course, I was not on that list. But, yeah, it was pretty cool. And then I went to Stanford my freshman year. And so, you know, I was right up there. I kind of scooted up the coast and played for the Giants. And then people say, oh, did you graduate from Stanford? I said, no. If I was smart enough to get into Stanford, I was smart enough to know when to leave. And the year after I signed, John Elway came to Stanford. And so I said, okay, this doesn't look so good for the Bambino. 00:17:04 Speaker 2: Might be time to tuck tail. Steve Dills, I got this. John Elway, maybe it's time to go somewhere else. 00:17:12 Speaker 3: Yeah, well, Steve Dills was a senior when I was there. Loved Steve, great guy. Turk Schoenert was there. Turk was a year behind Steve Dills. Now we're taking a stroll down memory lane, but yeah, so I was with Steve my freshman year and Turk. And anyway, yeah, two, two great guys. Unfortunately, Turk passed away as well, but anyway, then Elway came and I said, Oh, this doesn't, I was in the transfer portal, Larry, before there was one. Okay. Played for Lee Corso then at Indiana. 00:17:43 Speaker 2: What was that like? God, you know, That must have been fun. Corso is such a character, and what a high-energy guy. He's been on ESPN for decades. 00:17:52 Speaker 3: Yeah, it was interesting because we talk every two, three weeks, and everybody thinks when they saw the guy on college game day, you know, they're not so fast, my friend, that he was like that coaching, and he was not. But now we hang up the phone every time. I say, Coach, love you. He said, Babe, love you. we were not saying I love you. I love you. When I was playing for him, that player coach relationships, uh, you know, takes on a different feel after you're no longer a player

and coach. 00:18:26 Speaker 2: Well, you've obviously you played for a number of teams in the NFL and had a stint with the Cowboys. And you've been the, you've been working with Brad sham. Who's one of my favorites for years and years. He calls you the best color analyst in the business. Uh, You gave Daryl Moose Johnston the moose, right? Weren't you the first guy to call Daryl Johnston the moose? 00:18:47 Speaker 3: I did, and I can give you a quick backstory on that. Actually, I just talked to Daryl yesterday because he did, as you probably know, he did the 49ers-Raiders game last week. Right. And so I just tried to get a little background on what he saw. You know, of course, I'm looking at tape as well, but Daryl's a very smart guy. But anyway, yeah, so it was 1989. And we had all these five, nine running backs and in the NFL world. So the quarterbacks and receivers, we're looking at the passing game, but you know, the tight ends and running backs, they have to get the passing game and the run game. So they were, he was down with the lineman and then, you know, halfway through the meetings, they come into our meeting. And so as they're filing up and we're in like a, basically kind of a lecture hall was our meeting room at that time and sit next to Troy and Aikman and, In comes the 5'8, 5'9, running backs, and then Darryl pops in, right, at the back of the line, you know, 6'2, 245. And I just said, I said, look at DJ. I said, the guy is a moose among the deer. And having no idea, it would become what it becomes. obviously. You know, you give people a lot of nicknames that don't become. 00:19:54 Speaker 2: Don't stick, yeah. 00:19:55 Speaker 3: You know, into the NFL vernacular. And so we started kind of calling him Moose. And it might have been Brad Sham even said, what did you guys call him? And I said, oh, he's Moose. You know, and then he, I think he might have used it. But then Daryl said, I knew I was no longer Daryl Johnston when the Moose calls came up in Philadelphia. And Madden started calling him Moose. So anyway, that's the Moose story. You never know where your nickname is going to stick, right? 00:20:25 Speaker 2: Yeah, you never know. Well, let's fast forward to the matchup this Sunday. Niners and Cowboys at Jerry's World. And there's going to be a lot of red in the stands. You know that. And this is a big game for the Cowboys. And the 49ers come in a little banged up. I think this is a little scary because you've got CeeDee Lamb. And I don't know if Pickens is going to play. But the Cowboys have some really good receivers. And Prescott and the Niners are beat up on the corner. How do you see the matchup this Sunday? 00:20:55 Speaker 3: Yeah. You know, it's funny. Every team is beat up. Um, Cowboys just got finished playing a team that wasn't beat up, but they traded away their best players as you will know, because you got the forest Buckner there and they quit and Nelson was gone. So every week it seems like there's a, I don't want to say a challenge, the challenges for the other team, because every team seems to be beat up at this time of year. And the Cowboys are no different, but, um, One thing about the 49ers, man, they just, and you obviously follow them more closely than I do, they just seem to find a way. I mean, they lost what? How many defensive linemen did they lose at the beginning of the season? 00:21:32 Speaker 2: Six. They lost six of their starting 10. 00:21:37 Speaker 3: It was crazy, right? I mean, but, and I do think the football gods every year designate a position for your team, whatever your team is, to say the football gods are going to say, okay, you're going to be decimated today. at this particular position group. For the Cowboys, it's been safety and even secondary. Jory Porter, they traded for him. He's been in and out of the lineup. I don't know that he will play this Sunday. But their secondary has just been a revolving door of practice squad players moving up. You guys obviously experienced that on the defensive line. Now, I will say this, as you know, maybe the most important group has been healthy. You've started all five of your offensive linemen in every game this season. And that is so important to me that that offensive line group has continuity, which you guys have had, which obviously leads to success, which they've had offensively. 00:22:31 Speaker 2: Let's talk about the Cowboys defensively. It's a three, four defense. You know, I watched a little bit of the all 22. It's Kenny Clark to me. It looks like he's getting pushed around a little bit, but Quinn and Williams, my goodness, he's got 14 tackles for loss. He's got four sacks in the last four weeks. This is a very talented line. I mean, Rashawn Gary, Oboni is playing well. I mean, as a rock who the BC kid is, is, is a, you know, force off the edge. And yet they're 31st against the run and, and their numbers don't look that good. How, how would you describe what you're seeing from Dallas's defense? Cause there's some great individual talents on this team. 00:23:12 Speaker 3: Well, they don't have Fred Warner. How about that? I mean, they're, You look at them individually and you say, okay, Kenny Clark, a little older, but still a good player, pro bowler. Quinton Williams, it was unfair last week. Let me just go back on last week. So obviously Indy traded Quinton Nelson the week before, their all-pro guard, and they had a rookie fourth-rounder starting for the first time, and Quinton Williams just abused him. And this may sound like a, hot take opinion, but I swear to you, I think if Quentin Nelson were still on the Indianapolis Colts last week, I'm not sure the Cowboys win because Quentin Williams took over that game from that defensive tackle position, blew up Jonathan Taylor in the backfield on one, forced a fumble where Indy was coming in for a score that was going to give him a very comfortable lead. But anyway, yeah, Quentin Williams has been playing great. But as a whole,

The run defense has been bad. They've been giving up big plays. The communication has been bad in the secondary. There's always seems to be a breakdown on one big play a game. And that's really kind of cost them. So they can't stop the run or they haven't stopped the run, although they've been better lately, certainly better lately. And they've given up big plays in the passing game. And that's just a bad combination, especially when you're playing San Francisco here, who generates big plays. And as we know, run the football pretty darn well. 00:24:45 Speaker 2: Babe Laufenberg with us on the Yuma Guest Line. Niners are number one as far as pre-snap motion. They use it more than any team in football. The Cowboys have the worst EPA in football against motion, pre-snap motion. Is it simply because they got a bunch of new faces and the communications bogging down? Why is it that they're struggling against pre-snap motion in your mind? 00:25:06 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, you can make, you can give reasons slash excuses. You know, new defensive coordinator, To your point, they're playing a 3-4. They've been playing 4-3 until this year. A bunch of new players defensively, and they have not gelled. But you sit there also and say, okay, you're nine games into it. How long is this going to take? And as you well know, you guys have had five defensive coordinators in five years there. But the one constant there, it's funny, I asked Clayton Adams, who's the Cowboys offensive coordinator, yesterday when the coordinators were available, It feels like I'm watching the All-22 of last week's game, but I could go back five years and it feels like you're looking at the same defense. Scheme's the same. For the most part, I don't want to say the players are the same, but Fred Warner's sitting there obviously in the middle. There's Dre Greenlaw. There's Bosa. So the continuity has been there with the scheme, even though the continuity has not been there with your defensive coordinators. And Cowboys have kind of gone through the same thing, four coordinators defensively in four years. But this year was a schematic change again from 4-3 to the 3-4, and it just has not gelled leading into this game Sunday. 00:26:23 Speaker 2: You know, we saw something last week that we never see, and that's we saw DeMarvion Overshown run onto the field to celebrate. And it's like, I asked Kyle about it. I said, Kyle, you ever seen that before? 00:26:35 Speaker 3: He's like, yeah. 00:26:36 Speaker 2: He's like, I might have to bring it up Friday to the guys when we talk it, when we go over our thoughts on the game. Um, but then he's like, you know, you think you don't have to cover that stuff, but you do. 00:26:47 Speaker 3: Well, Larry, very quickly. Was that your question? Because I did get on the 49ers website and I watched the, uh, that. 00:26:53 Speaker 2: Was me, your presser. Oh, that was me. 00:26:56 Speaker 3: That was my question. I, I, I actually saved it. And, uh, you know, you, and to Kyle's point, um, And let me just say this. I don't know Kyle Shanahan. I feel a little silly saying Kyle like we're best friends. But Coach Shanahan, you can't go over everything, right? I always remember when Gus Farratt was playing for Washington, scored a touchdown, and rammed his head into the wall, and he was out. Right. I mean, Norv Turner was the head coach at the time. It's like, Norv, did you ever go over with your players that they shouldn't headbutt a wall after they score a touchdown? No. But I found it interesting, too. Here's one for you, Larry. So Overshawn talked yesterday, and Dee Winters ran up to him as he's coming on the field saying, hey, you can't be out here. Get off the field. Well, Dee Winters was in San Francisco last year, so he did hear that when Kyle said he went over it twice. I did laugh when he said I have to go over it on Friday, which I guess is now today. But I did laugh when he said I better go over that again. But, yeah, I was– I didn't see– I'm obviously broadcasting the game, but everybody was running down to the end zone. So I didn't see Overshawn at that moment stick out. But I love Clay Martin, who was the referee in that game, who's usually a little subdued. He's no Ed Hockley. He kind of just gives you the facts. When he got on and said, there's a player, blue sweats, stocking cap, I just started laughing. And I felt like he should have gone into more detail, Larry, like the– The sweatpants were a royal blue. The cap was more of a Carolina blue, Robinette blue. But I just like, what the heck is going on, right? And overshown, you know, got overly excited. Oh, man. 00:28:51 Speaker 2: And he's a talented guy, too. But he's not, you know, I think he should have known better. Let's talk a little bit about the Cowboys offensive line, because the Cowboys interior three on paper is, looks as powerful and as stout as any three guys in football. You got the Tylers, right? Tyler Smith at left guard. You got Booker. Booker was great at Alabama. I love Tyler Booker. And he's a road grader at right guard. Then you got Cooper Beebe from K-State. He's a tough guy. But are they not getting... How would you describe their line this year? Because one game, I caught them against Philly three, four weeks ago. They ran the heck out of it. They look great. Javante Williams looked great. And then other games, they look like they can't run. So what is, there a lot of inconsistency with the cowboy run game? They could run for 40. They could run for one 40. Yeah. 00:29:44 Speaker 3: And then basically they have, and the one 40 is followed by 40. So you'd sit there and you think, Okay, they just turned the corner, right? Okay, now they got it together. And then the next week, to your point, they run for 50 yards, and Javante Williams has held the 2.3 carry. And I can't figure it out. And what's interesting is I always say, you know, I mean, I'm looking at the tape. I'm obviously at the game. I've watched the tape

from the week before. I look at it six times. And those coaches are in there 16 hours a day. So the notion that I'm going to walk in and say, hey, here's what you guys need to do, I'd be a little self-aggrandizing, but to your point, Tyler Booker, first-round pick, high first-round pick at right guard. Tyler Smith, first-round pick at left guard. He's an all-pro. Tyler Guyton, the left tackle, first-round pick. They should be more productive. I'd love to tell you the reason why they haven't been, but I can't. Javante Williams, again, good running back. Is he Christian McCaffrey? No, but he's a good NFL running back and they just have not had any consistency in the running game. And then when you look at it too, George Pickens is, you know, he's been banged up lately, but when you've got CD lamb and George Pickens on the outside teams are playing a lot of that shell coverage and too deep trying not to give them the big play. So in theory, you should be able to run the ball. You're not seeing heavy fronts, right? But they've just really struggled. 00:31:20 Speaker 2: 49ers should have a pretty good idea where they're going with the football. CeeDee Lamb had 18 targets last week. Flournoy, who was number two, had three. Have you ever thrown the ball 18 times, babe, in a game to one receiver? 00:31:36 Speaker 3: Gosh. Back in the day, you may not have thrown it 18 times in the entire game, but they just kept targeting CeeDee time after time. He's a heck of a player, but At some point, the other team says, you know what? They seem to be throwing the ball a lot to this 88. Maybe we should double him up here. But they just kept going out CD. Now, let me say this. Ryan Flannoy, no one knows across the NFL for the most part. But he'll probably play a big role, too, because I don't know if Pickens is going to be healthy or not Sunday. But he's a good, solid receiver. He really is. Drafted in the seventh round. Small school, you know, he came out of Southwest Missouri State or Southeast Missouri State. Excuse me. Don't want to offend the people in Southeast Missouri State. But, you know, small school took him a while to develop. It's his third year. And, you know, you come from those small schools for the most part. Outside of Mississippi Valley State and Jerry Rice, who also actually struggled a little bit as a rookie. He did. You know, it takes them. I don't see them as a rookie. I see their rookie year really as their second year when you're playing at a school that small. And that's kind of the way it was with him. His first year, he was just sort of chasing cars. And second year, he settled down a little. And now in his third year, he seems to really have the NFL game down a little bit. So you're going to see him become, to me, a very productive receiver. I mean, he has 32 catches on the year this year, and that's his third receiver. But you'll hear Flannoy, and you'll say, ah, Babe told me about that guy. 00:33:10 Speaker 2: A couple more minutes with

Babe Laufenberg as we get you ready for the Niners and the Cowboys tonight on Niners Nightly. And Cowboys haven't won two in a row all year. They, you know, they win, they lose, they win, they lose, they win. They have a couple of losses. You know, how, what, why the inconsistency? Is there any one thing you can point to for why this team hasn't been able to get on a roll? 00:33:34 Speaker 3: No, again, I mean, it would go back to these coaches are in there 14 hours a day, 16 hours a day, trying to figure all this out for six days a week. And so, I would love to, again, be able to tell Brian Schottenheimer, hey, coach, here's what you need to do. Here's been your problem. But to the inconsistent, you were talking about the running game, the good one week, not good the next. It's the same with the entire football team of the inconsistency. And to your point, they haven't won back-to-back games all season. I don't know that this is the week you want to start that. Having beaten Indy the week before, this is a week you can say, well, we won back-to-back. You go back to last year, they only had one stretch. They actually won three in a row. But that was the only time they won back-to-back games last year as well. So they've just been an up-and-down football team. And again, I'd love to tell you exactly why, but a lot of it, let me say, is the defense. Defense is just, they were terrible last year. And everybody said, well, they can't be any worse this year. And it's like, oh yeah, why not? And they've been almost as bad. 00:34:37 Speaker 2: Um, you guys, you know, Niners and Cowboys have made some trades in recent years. How's winters looking and, and how are you guys missing? Oh, so Diggy Zua, Oh, Diggy Zua last week, babe. Um, you know, he's been good all year, but when they, they added Buckner and they added Bosa back to the mix and Oh, so Oh, Diggy Zua last week was absolutely playing with his hair on fire. Um, they had nine tackles for loss. He had a few of them. Um, how much does Dallas miss him? 00:35:06 Speaker 3: Well, I don't want to say they don't miss him. I don't want to say that. But, you know, Kenny Clark and obviously Quentin Williams, they've been good. It's been interesting because you did your homework, but Evonia's been very good. He kind of came out of nowhere. You know, not a big signing or anything of that nature, but he's been very good on that defensive front. But, yeah, I'm watching your game. I'm watching the All-22, and I just keep seeing this 92-92 just disrupting everything, of course. it's a diggy Zua, but that was really as much as anything, they were paying three defensive tackles, big money with Quinn and Williams and Kenny Clark and then no diggy Zua. So as much as anything, it wasn't a situation where they said, Hey, this guy can't play or anything of that nature. It was just the cap wasn't working for him to pay three defensive tackles, that kind of money. And so obviously the trade took place. They, they drafted

or diggy Zua in the third and then they got a third back for him. So, I guess they had a push there on that deal. 00:36:05 Speaker 2: Yeah, no, and you're right. I mean, and they, you know, they move Parsons. They weren't sure what they were going to get. And then they wind up getting, they, then they make the big deal for Quinn in with the draft capital that they got. And once you had Quinn in and OSA and Kenny Clark, you knew that wasn't going to stay. Somebody was going to go. And I think he was probably easier to move OSA, but he's been a, he's been a fantastic find for the 49ers. You know, we talked a lot about the, the, the defense and, but let's talk about the head coach for a second. You know, how do you feel about the job that, that, um, Marty Schottenheimer's kid has done Brian Schottenheimer. Um, he's obviously, this is only year two and there's, you know, already people saying, Oh, he's going to, you know, his heads are going to roll. I mean, it's, it's amazing how we give nobody any time anymore to kind of get used to a situation, but how would you describe the job that, that, uh, Brian Schottenheimer has done there? 00:36:57 Speaker 3: Yeah. And you mentioned Marty Schottenheimer, his dad, um, I think Mike Shanahan's son has done a better job in San Francisco than Marty Schottenheimer's son has done here. But I'll go back to, yeah, and you know this. I was just doing a show on our local flagship here, and we all know Kyle Shanahan's a great coach, right? I mean, I think that's generally acknowledged across the league that Kyle Shanahan is a damn good coach. He won six games his first year. He won four his second. So I do think you have to give these guys time to build their program, if you will. And as you said, that's an time is in short supply. I think, I think organizations give up too quickly on their head coaches, if they think they have the right guy. And I feel the same way about organizations with quarterbacks, you know, they, they throw them out there too early. They don't have success early and the organization sends them off. And I mean, you, Baker Mayfield was with four teams, right, that could have kept him. And then he becomes a player in Tampa Bay. I know Sam Darnold struggled a little bit this year, but goes and wins 14 games in Minnesota. The Jets, of course, quarterbacks are going to die there. That's what I always say. If you get drafted by the Jets, you're going to die. But anyway, they put up on him there. And then he wins 14 in Minnesota, wins 14 in Seattle and a Super Bowl. You've got a guy right there in your organization now, Mac Jones. He got thrown out there, wasn't on a good team. He had a defensive coordinator as his offensive coordinator. You're set up for failure. Ultimately, they got Drake May, and that's worked out well for him. Again, I just think teams give up too quickly on both their coaches and their quarterbacks. A lot of that is the fans. The fans want after every loss here, the fans want Brian Schottenheimer fired. And I'm like, he's not even through his second year. So, we will see. But let me just very quickly, this will be a big win for him. A big feather in his cap. Because if you were to say who gets the coaching edge in this matchup, and there are 100 votes out there, it's 100 to 0 that it's Kyle Shanahan. So, I'm sure personally, now he will say, hey, it's about the players and all that, but I think as a coach, if you're a competitor, which obviously he is, you want to beat the guy who's regarded as one of the best. And you have that opportunity on Sunday. 00:39:36 Speaker 2: Babe Laufenberg, Cowboys color analyst, stopping by. We've got more straight ahead. It's Niners Nightly on the Sports Leader. 00:39:46 Speaker 1: Faithfully Niners nightly with Larry Kruger now continues on your proud home of 49ers football. KNBR the sports leader. 00:39:58 Speaker 2: And we're coming down the home stretch on Niners nightly. Hope everybody's having a great, great Friday. Anthony Garcia is up next and, um, he's going to have Dave Stewart stew. One of my favorites, one of G rads favorites back in the day was stew. Um, Nobody was more money in the late 80s and early 90s than Dave Stewart in the playoffs. I mean, it was like an automatic win. Stu was just money in the playoffs and such a great guy. I mean, such a terrific guy. Really enjoyed all my interactions with Dave Stewart through the years. He's just he's just, you know, he's smart, cares about people. He loves the game of baseball. He's done every role really has management agent, you know, pitcher star starter reliever. I mean, I just remember when he came up with the Dodgers and he had that hat and he just looked so menacing, so menacing. And of course, who could remember that that incredible 89 A's team that swept the Giants in the World Series? Stu, Mike Moore, Bob Welch. Storm Davis. I mean, they just, they had dudes, they had dudes. And that was in the, that was in their rotation. Of course, Eck in the pen, Tony in the dugout with Dunk. And then, you know, Jose, Mark McGuire, Hendu, Ricky, Gallego, Phillips, Weiss, Lanceford. Hated him. Hated him. All I could think of was that 89, 89 World Series game. I love the 89 Giants. Are you kidding me? It just got snuffed out like a candle against Stu and the fellas in the World Series. Of course, the Earthquake Series. Good memories, bitter memories, tragic memories of the loss of life during that earthquake. What a moment that was for this region. I was a freshman at Sac State walking home from school when the earthquake hit. And that series. 00:42:03 Speaker 2: Got interrupted. And, you know, all the stuff, all the people that died, crushed by the 880, and just, ugh, just awful. Just awful. Awful stuff. The fire in the marina. And, you know, just part of San Francisco sports history. That's going to do it for us tonight. A couple last thoughts before we, oh, Alex Pavlich is also going to be by, and Pavs has been, I'm sure, you know, him and Kipe's kid have been doing a podcast recently. They were talking about pitching, and I'm sure they'll talk about off-season pitching. what the Giants may be looking for in the offseason, the baseball winter meetings, all that kind of stuff, with Pavs as well. So don't miss any of Anthony coming up here in a minute. A couple thoughts, though, on this game, Niners-Cowboys. Of course, we'll do more tomorrow morning, 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. Brad Sham's going to stop by. The longtime voice of the Cowboys tomorrow from 10 to 11. Looking forward to that conversation. Looking forward to that hour. So join me tomorrow morning on the Sports Leader. Just a couple quick thoughts before we bolt for the door here. Quinnen Williams is an absolute beast. He's got sack and four straight games. He's got 14 tackles for loss. You know, you can't let him ruin the game. Niners are playing better than the Cowboys. Cowboys had 14 penalties last week. The Buckner and Bosa addition to the Niners front has made Oso Digizua just a force. I can't wait to see more of Oso Digizua. Dallas' defense, first-year coordinator Rob Leonard, I think the Niners can run the ball. They don't blitz a lot. A lot of missed assignments, a lot of mental errors. They don't handle pre-snap motion well at all. Their corners have really struggled. Their linebackers struggle to make tackles. They miss lots of assignments and lots of tackles. Malik Hooker misses a ton of tackles. So it's just a big, can the Niner offensive line, without Trent Williams possibly, block Dallas' front? That's really it. That's it right there. Dallas is the worst team in the NFC in third down defense. Niners are one of the best third down conversion teams in recent years. Niners are one of the best red zone teams. Cowboys are bad in the red zone. So, Niners special team's got to step it up a little bit. Niners got to keep taking away the ball. If they can take away the football in this game, I think they're going to win 42-17. If the Niners have injuries at corner and those couple guys don't play, I think it's going to be more of a shootout. You know, like 38-28, something like that, where Cowboys score a lot of points as well, and it goes back and forth. But I do think the 49ers are going to come home or, you know, go to Colorado Springs, I should say, on the heels of their eighth victory of the year. All right, hope you enjoyed Babe Laufenberg. Thanks to the great Kyle Haar. Enjoy Anthony. He's coming up next with some Giants ball and some outstanding talk. Don't miss it. It's next, or he's next. And we'll see you tomorrow at 10 a.m. on these sports leaders.